Conventionally, material data such as video data and audio data that are photographed and sound-recorded are recorded on a tape device such as a video tape that is a record medium. In other words, when the user moves material data from a first device to a second device, the material data is moved through a tape device.
In the tape device, material data are recorded along the time axis that is the longitudinal direction of the tape. Thus, when the first device stops the reproduction for material data (in the middle thereof) and the second device resumes the reproduction from the stop position of the material data, the tape device physically records the reproduction stop position (as position information). In other words, when the first device stops the reproduction, the device stops the tape feed of the tape device and holds. the position (as the reproduction stop position) on the tape. Thus, when such a tape device is loaded into the drive of the second device, the second device can resume the reproduction from the position of the tape device (namely, the reproduction stop position of the first device).
Normally, since an edit operation is performed while reproduced material data is being referenced, the foregoing process is performed when material data are edited. When the first device stops an edit process and the second device resumes the edit operation, as described above, since the reproduction stop position is held, the user can resume the edit operation from the position at which the first device stopped the edit process.
However, as the information process technologies have been improved in recent years, information has been digitized and discs such as DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) have been used as record mediums. Although the position of a magnetic head of an information read device of the tape device is fixed, the position of a pickup of a device that reads information from a disc is moved.
Thus, as described above, when the reproduction for material data is stopped and the material data are moved to another device through a disc, the disc on which the material data are recorded does not hold the last reproduction stop position. Thus, the material data need to be reproduced from the beginning. Likewise, when the edit operation is stopped, the last edit stop position becomes uncertain.